CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

Capital Punishment

Capital Punishment

Introduction

In a society different kinds of people live together. Some of the people are good and some of the people are bad. Due to financial pressure and illiteracy some of the individuals of the society indulge in crimes. In order to make the society peaceful it is imperative to hold these people accountable for their deeds and should be given proper punishment according to the nature of the crime. One such punishment that is subject to controversies for so long is capital punishment. The main objective of this paper is to talk about capital punishment from variegated perspective.

Background

Capital punishment can be defined as the sentence of death for a person who has committed a serious crime. The punishment is given to the criminal by the state. A criminal is held liable for the capital punishment only for those crimes that are known as capital crimes or capital offences. Due to the issue of human rights and religious debates capital punishment is a highly controversial issue. In some of the countries this controversies has ignited to such an extent that that the government has to decide to abandon provision of capital punishment. This debate regarding the provision and abandonment is also prevalent in United States. Some of the states in United States have also abandoned the provision of capital punishment also, there are few states in which capital punishment is still valid but there is not even a single case in which criminal was executed. These stats can be shown in the form of a map as follows:

Now the main question arises is that why there is so much inconsistency regarding the prevalence of the capital punishment within United States and in different countries around the world? There can be a number of reasons behind that. The first and foremost reason is the opposition and support for this punishment. There are few people who are of the opinion that capital punishment should be abolished. The main argument that such people put forward is that capital punishment is cruel and inhuman act. My argument is that why the process of justification is considered as cruel and inhuman. The following part of the paper discusses various arguments in favor of the capital punishment.

Thesis Statement

Capital punishment is a justified process. Capital punishment should not be considered as cruel and inhuman.

Arguments in Favor of the Thesis Statement

The thesis statement implies that capital punishment is not cruel and unusual act. There can be many reasons on the basis of which capital punishment cannot be regarded as cruel and unusual. These reasons are as follows:

Religious Support

On many occasions Bible supports the killing of the murderer. Bible supports death penalty for a number of crimes such as adultery and evil sorcery. Bible even mentions that a prostitute should be buried alive. These orders of Bible are used for the retention of the capital punishment.

Deterrence

Deterrence means prevention and avoidance. The major justification for the capital punishment is its perceived ability to deter or prevent “would-be” ...